Technical issues

I have started to try and test out codes on the two characters and unit I have designed. I decided to design the other character in the later stage as I need to start making a working game prototype.

I have been able to create the unit but however, I have problem summoning multiple units at the same time. Therefore, I've consulted my specialist and he helped me on creating array for multiple summoning.

After that I'm having issues of making the units in the array to fight each other, it was also solved with the help of my specialist. After that, I can manage the other part of the code which are the attributes of the units.

UI design

Digitized UI design

Square buttons: Unit summoning buttons

Round buttons: Beats button, will have sound feedback after tapping on it.

Change of characters

As I progressed, I gathered feedback from my peers. Most of them are saying the characters of the knight are way too similar to the knights in Kurechii's King's League. Therefore I decided to change from using a knight as the character to a viking, which will contrast from King's League's characters.

Digitized version:

Digitized tower

Digitizing the graphic of the tower. Below are the screenshots:

Adding on some background:

Creating another layer of gradient to make foreground and background more contrast and have depth:

External class coding

Each of the units is going to have their own attributes such as speed, damage and health points. Also they will be performing different animations based on different act. Therefore, I will have to create the units using external classes to give them their own attributes.

As I am falling off in terms of schedule, I've started to test out the codes with unfinished graphic to do a prototype of the game to check if the game is working.

External class:

Attributes of each units will be something like this. I started off by testing on units summoning using click buttons, however in the actual game the enemy will be summoned based on a timer.

The buttons are the green and red circles.

Attacking prototype

I have tested out how the code should work on flash when enemy and the summoned unit are to attack each other. A simple hit test in done in AS3 is able to show the look and feel of what I intended to do.

Here's a screen shot of the prototype. Using two sketches from what I have sketched before to do the hit test animation.

The unit and enemy will bounce back once they have reach and hit each other.

Paper prototypes

I have also tested out a few different paper prototype of the game to see which has the better UX on the gameplay.

Prototype 1:

- Use food to summon

- Simple tap interaction to summon

Prototype 2:

- Drag and drop the characters

- Use food to summon

- Character will move to the selected position

 

Prototype 3:

- Perform rhythm to summon characters

- Use food to summon

- Combo will be used after summoning

- The greater the combo the stronger the unit

After all 3 prototype, I've decided to mix and match most of them, using simple tap to summon the units and at the same time, performing beats will be able to enhance the attribute of the units.

Character design 1

After changing to art direction to medieval, there are changes on the characters as well. Here I am to show the sketches I have done on the characters so far. The characters are inspired from knights from Kurechii's King's League.

There will be two types of units to be summoned, the air units and ground units. This post is to show the ground units character sketches.

Sketches of tower

After the consultation, I have start sketching characters and towers. The theme I have chosen to develop the rhythmic tower defense game is medieval.

Here are some sketches of the tower. The tower is build up using wood and rocks to make it seems more of a medieval feel.

Sketches

Finalized sketch

Change of art style

After submitting the prospectors, I have my semester break and throughout the semester break I found out that I am not capable of creating artistic and experimental art style. I often find abstract and experimental art is hard to understand and difficult to deliver a message. Therefore, I've decided to change my art approach to a more commercialized tower defense game, using iconic characters and structure.

The direction benchmark will be something like this:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/14719085/Castle-Concept

https://www.behance.net/gallery/19426793/Disposable-Knights

After going back to college, I've consulted my specialist and he has approved on my changes and recommend me to come out with the graphic as soon as possible as I am falling behind in terms of schedule since I have changed my art direction.

After Pitch Feedback

I were to give a pitch to my lecturer and different specialist on my project, feedback was prompt. Below are the feedback given by tutors and lecturers to further improvise my mobile game.

Feedbacks

- Target audience should be aiming for girls/ woman cause of using experimental flower design.

- Consider the sound when user plays with the mobile game, user might not be able to play the game in crowded area.

- UI design can be nicer as the HP and Combo is not appealing.

- Main concern are target audience, it is not suitable for a general audience, be specific on the target audience.

Gantt Chart

The early phase of the production timeline is to design and develop the assets of the mobile game. The assets includes: graphics, sounds, visual effects,UI designs and animations. After producing all the assets, the production timeline will be the technical phase. Most of the time spent will be on technical due to having a lot of different stages to complete and unlock the final core stage.

Sound Selection

Selected sounds are as according:

Tujiko Noriko - Endless End

We All Inherit the Moon - When We Finally Fall Asleep. Part II, Part III

Tujiko Noriki - Give Face

New Discovery

I was exploring the arcade in Sunway Pyramid while waiting for my friend. I've found an interesting music arcade game with a very attractive visual that caught my attention. After I went home i started to research on arcade game created by Taito as that is the only element I remember from the game.

After further research I've found out the game is called Groove Coaster and it it also available on mobile phone. Therefore I've downloaded it and try out the game play and observe the visual of the game.

The visual of the game is more flat and more textured based.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/aug/14/groove-coaster-hungribles-apps-review

I think the visual will be less heavy for the game compared to the visual I've done before. Therefore this could be an alternative way for me to explore the visual.

I've further research on books with pattern and texture related to further inspire myself:

From the book: Cutting Edge Pattern

Video Prototype

After researching for the particle effects/ VFX. I've generated some of the assets for me to try out the effect of my own on Adobe Flash by animating it.

Assets:

VFX Video mock-up

Visual Effects & Exploration

I have explored on different visual effects on different flash games and mobile games. Also I have learn some of the key thing that might be needed to create an effect for the game

For example: a simple enlarge and fade off.

http://www.spriters-resource.com/pc_computer/magebros/sheet/36419/

Crumble Zone

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rebeltwins.crumblezone

This mobile game inspired me on the exploding particle. When two object collides, it creates an exploding particle effect feedback for the user showing that the object has been hit.

Stardunk

http://www.slidetoplay.com/review/stardunk-review/

This game inspires me from the small circle particle effect that shows the ball touched something. While the large circle particle effect covers the whole screen indicating the ball has entered the ring. The large circle particle effect inspires me to make use of it as the enemy has been eliminated.

UI Design

Tutorial 2

During tutorial 2, I've showed my assigned specialists the paper prototype and also talked about the feedback give from my 3 personas. They suggested me to rather developed a narrative based game with a lot of levels into developing a single survival level game. Besides that, the feedback includes the combination of beats tapped is currently too plain. Lastly I am to decide which aspect of the game am I more focusing on? Art style or the game experience?

By having my target audience defined, I've decided to develop the mobile game into a survival/ highscore-based game. A faster gameplay that suits casual gamer. In terms of the combination of combos, I've decided to make the skills to be stronger if the combo did not break. If possible I may also include more types of attacks with the combining combination beats tapped. Lastly the aspect I've chosen to focus on is the visual of the game. Casual gamer prefer a more relaxing and less aggressive type of game play, therefore I will create a game which let the user to enjoy the visual of the game. In the interval cooldown of the 4 beats will be playing the animation feedback.

Specialist recommended me to research more on experimental game which has nice visual effects. And to further understand how the coding of the game will work, I am adviced to create a video prototype of the visual effect.

I have research on Flowers, game developed by thatgamecompany. It has a very nice visual and animation feedback. It is engaging and at the same time peaceful. I've also researched games developed by thatgamecompany and I've found Flow. The visual of the game inspires me to create something like it.

Before I started on the VFX prototype, I've tried to design some of the element for my UI and the game. The graphics are the assets for my VFX prototype and gameplay.

Sketches

Digital UI mockup:

http://thatgamecompany.com/games/

User Research 2

Previously my user research and market research is not detail enough. To help me further understand what the application market demand is right now.

Market Research
(53%) of smartphone owners play mobile games daily.

The types of game played by active users are:
10 million monthly active users play “Hidden Objects” social games
13.24 million monthly active users play “Casino Related Games” social games
2.5 million monthly active users play “Role-Playing Games” social games
Over 100 million people play games on social networks — 61% on Facebook

Rhythm game are not the most played game by the active users of mobile phones. It is also stated that by the year 2014, console game will be dominated by mobile game. The statistic is probably a good sign of me developing a mobile game, rather than console game.


Target Audience
Previously I've been confused on what target audience I should be focusing on. I've picked to focus on people who love music, rhythm gamer & casual gamer.

I've found out that my user research are too saturated. Therefore, I've decided to focus on one single target audience which is casual gamer and design my game in the favor of casual gamer.

From my research I discover casual gamer's behaviour are as according:

• They don't have a specific age group or sex.
• Can be both male or female.
• Usually they want the game to be fast
• Game that is easy to access, at any places
• Game that ends quickly, 5-15mins to complete a level.
• Prefer to enjoy the game rather than playing it aggressively

Besides that, I will also use the flaws of plain rhythm game that I've research before as my supporting research to help me to develop a better version of rhythm game. By inputting strategy element into the rhythm game to create depth for the interaction for the game.

Therefore, from the research I've done, I decided to design my game as a fast pace game. By having a survival mode where user can play anytime and quit anytime, it is very easy for them to have a fast game play time. Besides that, the game I developed will be an offline game, therefore user can access it easily without the need of finding connection. The style of the game will be suitable for both sex.

• http://www.socialnomics.net/2012/01/20/social-gaming-infographic-81-million-play-each-day-more-stats/

http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/01/14/are-you-a-casual-gamer
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/123288/Study_66_Of_US_Online_Population_Are_Casual_Gamers.php

Paper Prototype

After consulting for the first time with my assigned tutor - Yiwei. I've explain the idea of the mobile game I were to propose for my final year project.

• The game consists of 4 beats
• Each 4 beats played will have another 4 beats of interval time as cool down
• From an offensive game like Patapon, I've change the idea to a defensive game: Tower defense

After the consultation, assigned specialists are worried about the user experience of the game. The game have too many ideas inside it, it may cause confusion to user to either focus on the rhythm of the game or the strategy of defensing the tower. The fusion of the two genre may also cause frustration to the user during the game play.

Therefore, specialists recommended me to try out a paper prototype on few of my friend to test the outcome of the user experience.

The designed paper prototype is as follow, the UI of the paper prototype is design as close to the actual game UI.

The paper prototype comes with different combination of beat to check how the user interact with it. The creatures will be removed after 3 attacks on it. This paper prototype is played together with a beat metronome from an app in iPhone. The beat pace is 100 BPM. I have find 3 personas to test out my paper prototype, and their feedback are as following:

1. Ben Lim

- An interesting game that I would like to have in my phone.

- Can improve in terms of the game play, inputting upgrades on attack

- The game is rather challenging than frustrating

2. Goh Chee Hong

- Having a bit of difficulty to change from one combination to another

- Can simplify the combination of beats and make it easier to remember

- If play frequently will be able to remember what beats to tap

3. Aaron Chin

- The pace is too fast, cannot adapt to the speed of the beat.
- Would like to try on the real prototype
- Can make the attack faster by tapping the beats faster?
- Having difficulty to play on the first try, it gets better after a few run

Improvement to be made after paper prototype testing:
- Simplify the beats.
- Change to 4 beats -> 4 beats of interval cooldown time -> 4 beats again
- Reduce the amount of combinations
- Increase the amount of attacks on enemy base on the combo meter range

Statement of Intent

Statement of Intent

Topic
The topic I’ve chosen for my final year project is to produce a rhythmic adventure game. This game application will be published in mobile platform. The core idea of my final project is about the rhythmic adventure mobile game, however I will make a package for this mobile game which includes website and prints. The reason of creating the website is to show I also have some capability of advertising. I am proposing a rhythmic adventure mobile game because I have yet to find this type of game on the App Store nor Google Play Store. On the mobile store, they do have rhythmic-action game which is also tap according to the beats to gain highscores; Like most rhythm game, the interactions are very shallow, competing against each other to determine the winner based on highscore; Thus, showing a lack of meaning behind those interactions.

Therefore, I want to create a rhythmic game where the interaction of tapping on the beat serves a purpose and a meaning. My key inspiration is from Patapon also rhythmic adventure game. Their interaction with the beats will trigger different feedback from the characters of the game based on the combinations of the beats. However, Patapon is only available on console, not on mobile yet. My game will be referencing the interaction of Patapon, by tapping on different combinations of beats will trigger different feedbacks such as: Attack, Defend, Forward and etc. To spice up the game even more, I will be implementing game theories in it, rewards/ punishment and difficulty levels.

Genre
This project mainly focuses on entertainment, it also shares a narrative content inside to create a story telling effect; at the same time making the game more adventurous. Generally, this project is a casual game on mobile for users to entertain themselves. With the mobility of smart phones, user can have their casual fun anywhere, anytime.

Form
The rhythmic adventure game will be developed by using Adobe Flash, Action Script 3. It will be developed as an AIR application which runs on Android devices. The game will be designed as a horizontal platform game whereby users will have to play the game on their devices horizontally. The game also features the function of saving/ loading data internally. Since it is a single player game, therefore the game will be able to work offline. The game will be run as a full working prototype due to the limitations of power and time. However, the game will be launched on Google Play Store when it is fully functional and ready to be commercialized. The technical specification of the device that I will design the game in is:

Target Audience

Music is for everybody, so there is no targeted age group or sex to play this game. The game will be targeted on smart phones user as it requires a smart phone to run the game and plays it. My game is also to be targeted on casual mobile gamers. Casual mobile gamers are peoples who are not obsessed with the game but rather playing the game to kill-time when bored. Compared to online gamers, mobile gamer does not play the game regularly.

Based on my research, it is to be said that the rhythmic game in the arcade are starting to die off due to too many competitors came out at a same time. Therefore, my target audiences are those who are still interested in rhythmic game but having problem finding them.

The other reason of rhythmic game’s decline is people rather playing a real instrument than a fake one. Is it because they share the same experience therefore rhythmic game loses its fun? So by creating new experience of rhythmic game by implementing adventure inside it, it can bring new experience to audiences that already know how to play an instrument.

Besides that, after researching on the App Store and Google Play Store, I have yet to seen any similar type of game (rhythmic adventure) that I want to propose. Therefore, I think it can be a good chance to try producing the game and attract new audiences with the fresh idea.

Existing Skill & Knowledge

Software
In terms of software, the skills that I need to have in order to develop the mobile game that I’ve proposed is Adobe Flash, Action Script 3, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Audition.

I’ve been using Adobe Flash for quite some times, it helps me to animate objects. I have been learning it since Level 4 in my Degree year. Besides helping me on animating, this software can also develop Flash games and app as a prototype. It uses Action Script 3 which I am quite familiar with due to AIN and CMNMM modules which require me to produce artefacts that uses AS3 in Level 5 of my Degree year.

As for Adobe Illustrator, I have been learning it since my Foundation year in Degree. This software will be useful as it helps me to create graphics as assets which I needed it for the game development.

To create a rhythmic game I need to design sound and beat for the game. Therefore, Adobe Audition will be in use. This is also one of the software where I am familiar with. It can help me in terms of sound editing, a major aspect of the game I’m about to produce.

Skill set

In terms of skills set, I have drawing skills which are sufficient for me to design the characters and environment as the assets for the game. I have been drawing since secondary. Therefore I am confident on creating the assets needed.

I have always wanted to animate character since secondary and I’ve get to learn it during Level 4 of my degree year, so I think animation is also the skill set which I am confident in it .

Lastly, the knowledge that benefits my final project is the consideration of UX for the user. As a future UI/UX designer, the consideration of UX is a very important aspect in creating projects. I’ve also learnt building a good UI for the users to engage with the game/ app in Level5 of my Degree year which can be applied on my final project.

New Skills and Learning

The new skills that I will have to learn is about music, I don’t have much experiences on music instruments, so I have to explore more on music, beats and tempo which I’m inexperienced at.

Besides that, my skill set on Action Script 3 is not good enough to get the game to work perfectly. AS3 is also one of the skills that I will have to polish up in order to perfect the game I’ve proposed.

Moreover, it is the first time I propose role playing genre type of game. I will have to study and learn the game mechanism of RPG and also the concept behind RPG to create a better experience for the users.

Lastly, I have to learn how to apply the game theories into my final project to make the game more interesting and challenging that attracts peoples to play. The current theories that I will be implementing to my game is reward & punishment and the levels of difficulty.

Objectives

My objective for my final project is to present a fully workable prototype in the Degree show. If the final outcome is very good, I will consider pitching my project and request funding from company to execute it as a commercialised game and publish it on App Store/ Google Play Store.

Relation to Degree Essay

The degree essay I will be writing is about “How to create and enhance mobile game”. This research question carries throughout the entire year. The degree essay benefits me in terms of research in depth on what aspect that influences the level immersion of user towards the game. Also at the same time, I can discover more game theories that might affect the gameplay and user experience. The findings for my degree essay will be very useful in the production of my final project.

User research

User Research

Rhythm game used to be one of the dominating genre in the game industry. It is famous in the arcade. Many people would gather around the arcade machine to see people battle among each other. However, today rhythm games are dying.

Rhythm video games are viral in the past. Games such as "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero" are played everywhere. Below are the example of the two rhythm game:

Guitar Hero

Rock Band

However, rhythm games are dying fast today. People lose interest quickly because too many similar of them came out at the same time. And also all of the interactions are similar without any difference. Therefore people get bored quickly with the game. The other reason of people neglecting these machines is because some say they would rather play and learn a real instrument instead of a fake one. Both of the media serves a same purpose, why play a fake one?

From the research above, I've realize why rhythm games are dying fast; their interaction are too similar, repeated movements and tapping on the beats. The thing which is different is the difficulty.

Therefore, in my opinion, why Patapon is still being mentioned today is because of it's fresh and new idea of the interaction with the beats. Each combination of the beat serves different purposes, which make the game seems like something new. 

Of course there are different machines in the world with today's technology, tracking people's movement and gestures which are also a new interaction. However, in my final project I want to do a smaller scale of a fresh idea on interaction using rhythm game - mobile devices.

Reference:
http://versavulture89.hubpages.com/hub/Rhythm-Games-Are-They-Still-Relevant
http://rhythmcaster.com/blog/competitive-rhythm-games-part-1


Casual Mobile Gamer
Who usually plays mobile game is those casual gamer. Most casual games shares similar basic features:

- Simple game play, e.g. puzzle game that can be played using one button
- Allowing game play in short bursts, during breaks or on transportation
- The ability to reach final stage in a short time
- 2D, abstract graphics
- Ability to play anytime, anywhere

Casual gamers are those who will usually play mobile games to kill-time when they are bored or free. Indifferent with hardcore gamers which are very much into the game and able to spend a lot of times on the game.